“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.”

-From Thomas Gray’s poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, from which Thomas Hardy derived the name for his novel, Far From the Madding Crowd–

I have been reading a lot lately thanks to a power surge (due to a loose neutral point) that destroyed our home entertainment system, and whilst I bemoan the effect on our pockets, I am delighted with the extra time that has been forced upon me. Nothing pleases me more (and I wish I had the willpower to do more things that please me than to sit Jabba-like on the couch with a remote control) than jumping into bed with a book in my hand, the air-conditioning turned down to its coldest and the feeling of a warm duvet pulled up to my chest, with a hint of the scent of blissful templetree with my every movement.

The washing machine is also fried, but there is nothing romantic about smelly clothes.

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive.”

-Eleanora Duse-

Shhhhh!

It is not silent here. Motorcyclists use the bridge to cross over to the other side. Our laughter fills the air, barely, fighting hard with the vehicles of modernisation.

Shhhhh!

Remember the oath of secrecy. Reveal the location on your blog and suffer the wrath of one particularly angry Cordon Bleu Chef’s Mother.

The fresh steamed fish with onions and salted soybean sauce is good, but this is not the reason for our drive to Nibong Tebal in Penang.

We pre-ordered this dish to ensure that the large prawns are available. Cooked in a thick curry, it goes marvelously with the Roti Benggali – thick cut bread that is excellent for dipping. The curry is addictive and whets the appetite, and the prawns are fresh, cooked in their shells, the heads oozing with roe. We see young chaps walking in intermittently carrying plastic bags holding treasures within – live prawns from the river that flows beside this shack. One plate isn’t enough. We order another and mop up everything.